Midlife Meditation

Teaching a remote lesson in the "Music Den." "...[T]he tough thing about this is we all signed up for this, you know? In a pandemic, that is EMS' time to shine, right? Treating viruses is what we do all day long." The voice is weary, frightened, confused. His name is Anthony Almojer, and he's an Emergency Medical Technician in New York City. He was being interviewed for the March 27 episode of This American Life , entitled "The Test."  It's well worth a listen, but be prepared to be moved. I listened to it while putting away dishes and preparing my breakfast, and I had to take three weeping breaks before it was over. "I didn't sign up for this" was a tired old cliche long before we heard the terms "coronavirus" and "COVID-19." In this time of quiet, isolated upheaval, it's really wearing out its welcome. I hear it a lot from my colleagues as we hold online staff meetings to brainstorm how to teach c...

They do this without thinking. Hey, teachers: raise your hand if you've never been frustrated with how little actual content you teach in any given school day. I know I'm not alone in this. There are days when I'm lucky to teach even a fraction of the musical concepts I've planned for. Some of my 30-minute classes wind up being all about the drama going on between two classmates, or the never ending struggle to calm a severely disregulated child long enough to be able to give any attention to the rest of the group. The learning goals I share with children at the beginning of every class always include a promise not to talk without permission, and to listen at all times. In fact, there are times when it feels like all I'm doing is teaching children how to behave so a few of them can finally learn something about music. A full week of such classes--as often happens after children have been away from school for a vacation, break, or even a long weekend--leav...